P. Robert was born on 24 March 1720, the son of Morin Robert, who was described as “bourgeois de Paris”. Having been apprenticed to André Balmont, who certainly sold gold boxes, he became master on 4August 1747, at which date he was living in the cour neuve du Palais. By 1752 he had moved to the sign of the Three Crowns in the rue de Harlay, where he remained until his death on 24 August 1779. Robert appears to have been a jeweller as well as a goldsmith, and in 1768 is credited with the invention of a portable gold-mounted lantern or night-light.